HiSo it is my 4rd day in Turkey. Flight was unpleasant because someone was pushing my seat from behind in a plane and behind me there were very noisy women. The first day was about reaching hotel, filling stomach and going to sleep. On the second day I explored a bit. First hotel grounds. So I spotted 2x Trachemys scripta elegans in an artificial pond which hosted also fish and Pelophylax bedriagae (only heard).

Trachemys scripta elegans

its habitat

Then, since it was sunny, I found Hatay Lizard on a palm tree in hotel grounds.

I left hotel. When I was going along edge of bush there were many Hatay Lizards scurrying to hide away under bush. I reached stony banks of river and I spotted young Platyceps cf. najadum but unfortunately it hid immediately among stone and I was unable to find him again the following day.

But there were also Hatay Lizards and Starred Agamas. At the opposite bank under trash I found Bufotes variabilis.

adult Hatay Lizard and young and adult Starred Agamas.

Then I left city and again heard Pelophylax bedriagae from a river. Tried to flip Lycian salamanders but they don't reach so east it seems.The following day I tried to find Anatololacerta lizards so i left city and but I failed it seems. But I found tiny empty eggs under a stone. ID needed. EDIT: it is Mediodactylus kotschyi cf. danilewskii

habitat

Today I tried to find Lycian salamanders near Kemer, it was slightly raining but I did not find any! I only found a killed snake. Is it a Cat Snake? EDIT: it is Telescopus fallax syriacus

That day we drove to Tahtali. I reached the top by cable car, took some photos and descended by cable car to search for Lyciasalamandra billae yehudahi.

Here a habitat of that subspecies can be seen.

I searched but found nothing. When flipping stones I was trying to choose the biggest stones I can lift. It was not easy get to that place which was supposed to host L.b. yehudahi.

However I found subadult and juvenile Anatololacerta pelasgiana ibrahimi nearby even though it was cold.subadult

juvenile

their habitat

From there we drove to hotel for dinner and then to Phaselis- ruins of an ancient city where I found basking juvenile of Stellagama stellio daani. I hoped to see or at least hear Hyla orientalis in nearby marsh but they probably had not started their breeding season.

The next day, in the morning, we set off to ruins of an ancient city at Thermessos where I tried to find L. antalyana but it was probably too cold for them to be found under stones- there was frost and ice.

After hiking among old tombs and ruins of temples, having became hungry, we bought and ate dürüm at outskirts of Antalya, visited bāzār and a waterfall. At bāzār there was a booth of a candidate for a politician where lokma was given out for free so we ate some.

This day was dedicated to Antalya- we visited another waterfall and old town. The latter was not interesting. When returning to Kiris we stopped near D-400 road and the first stone to be lifted by me (having climbed up a bit) had something special underneath. It was an adult female of Lyciasalamandra billae billae, it made me very happy event hough there was a lot of trash around. After taking photos of this girl I started lifting other stones in the area but without additional salamanders found. Photos are not perfect because I forgetfully left shoe adaptor at dorm so I could not use external flash, and it was too dark to be successful without a flash.

In the morning we drove south to take a boat to Kekova where I was to find Lyciasalamandra luschani basoglui having seen photos of these salamanders from that island. However boat owner said that we cannot the island! Maybe I should have had special permission from authorities? :/

Kekova island

After this disappointment we visited archeological site at Myra where I found Starred Agama and Anatololacerta pelasgiana finikensis.

At that day I hoped to see Lyciasalamandra billae yehudahi near Kuzdere but I failed. Had I left earlier I would have spent more time on searching so I would have had higher chances of finding them. Though I observed Phoenicolacerta laevis (introduced, nearer buildings) and Anatololacerta pelasgiana ibrahimi (native, in woods). Below you can see habitat of the former.

Anatololacerta pelasgiana ibrahimi

I also found eggs of Mediodactylus kotschyi cf. danilewskii under a stone, again, but this time one of them was intact. It was shorter than 1cm.Scorpion on the right.

In the first day of 2019 I walked in rain to Camyuva- little city wich borders with Kiriş. There, next to densely vegetated yet anthropogenic water bodies I played mating calls of

Hyla orientalis

from phone to make potential tree frogs vocalize to detect them. However no frog replied. Then walking through city I flipped board and found small gecko with yellow pigmentation and stripped tail- juvenile of Hemidactylus turcicus. Unfortunately it had fled before I took camera out of bagpack. Moment later I lifted plate of concrete and found adult male Hatay Lizard taking refuge there.

2nd of JanuaryI took dolmush to Tekirova to go north of the city to try to find Lyciasalamandra billae yehudahi there. Mission failed.

3rd of JanuaryI went to Idyros mountain because I havent been there yet and because it was pretty close to the hotel. I haven't found anything interesting.

So on the 4th day of January I decided to go another trail in Goynuk. I took dolmush to Kemer and then to Goynuk. When walking uphill to the canyon I noticed a board next to a road and there was a juvenile Lyciasalamandra billae! I dont know what subspecies it is member of- whether billae or irfani. Yes, irfani is a subspecies not, not a species any more. The place where I found that juvenile is outside canyon. I emailed professor Gocmen with the question of subspecific identity of that specimen but he has not replied... Maybe it is a hybrid? What do you think?

Then I entered the canyon and told park rangers about my finding, they called me a fanatic seeing my happiness and my t-shirt with Ilian's drawing of Lyciasalamandra printed on it. They told me where to look for Lyciasalamandra billae irfani. Passing wooden water tank I slowed down because previous time when I passed it I heard frog jumping into water. And indeed there was a Pelophylax bedriagae, I think it was so dark to absorb more heat from sun (it was not so warm).

I walked the trail which had been recommended to me and found nothing but I did not give up and I was flipping stones when I was returning too. It was certainly worth it because I found Lyciasalamandra billae irfani female under a stone few steps from trail.